This invention relates to a coin discharge machine. There have been known coin discharge machines wherein a plurality of cartridges, each accommodating coins of a given denomination are provided and coins accumulated in at least one selected cartridge are pushed out, one at a time, from the lowermost by a selected rod pusher into a coin dropping outlet while each of the coins being pushed is caused to be engaged with a counting arm which actuates a microswitch for counting. Each rod pusher is normally moved toward and away from the coin dropping outlet below the coins accumulated in the cartridge during non-operation. During operation, at least one selected rod pusher is brought up to an operating position or an upper position by a biasing means and pushes the lowermost coin out of the cartridge into the coin dropping outlet.
There have been known prior art machines such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,253 issued on Oct. 7, 1980 to Kokubo et al., who are also the inventors of this invention. The above mentioned U.S. patent discloses a coin discharge machine for individually discharging the lowermost coin from coins stacked in a cartridge and for transferring the discharged coin to a dropping outlet, said machine comprising:
support means for supporting coins stacked in a cartridge in such manner that the lowermost coin has a portion thereof supported and spaced apart, longitudinally-extending non-supported portions;
a pair of longitudinally-extending rod pushers mounted for continuous reciprocating movement below the cartridge, each of said pushers being formed at an end thereof with an upwardly extending projection, the pushers being mounted in such manner to be movable between raised positions with the projections contacting edges of the non-supported portions of the lowermost coin and lowered positions with the projections lower than the lowermost coin;
means for axially reciprocating said pushers between the cartridge and a dropping outlet;
means for moving said pushers into said raised positions during forward strokes thereof so that said raised projections contact edges of the lowermost coin and transfer the coin to the dropping outlet, and for moving said pushers into said lowered positions during rearward strokes thereof so that said lowered projections pass beneath residual stacked coins, the residual coins being supported by said support means after removal of the lowermost coin; and
counting means for counting transferred coins and including a count arm positioned between the cartridge and the dropping outlet, said count arm being disposed to be engaged by a center portion of a coin being transferred.
In a preferred embodiment of the above coin discharge machine, said support means comprises a support plate having grooves formed therein for passage of said rod pushers. In the above machine or in combination with the machine, a carton is disposed in a coin receiving section, into which a coin pushed out of the cartridge and then introduced into the coin dropping outlet falls down a discharge passage.
One of disadvantages of the conventional carton and discharge passage is that the carton is formed with only one receiving chamber therein. That is, the carton has no partition therein, so that different denominations of coins pushed out of the cartridges are allowed to be intermingled with each other in the chamber. In order to count the coins of each denomination thus pushed out to calculate the total amount of the coins, therefore, it is necessary for the coins to be sorted into their respective denominations. Such sorting operation is troublesome and inefficient.
More particularly, in bank management, coins of various denominations pushed out of the cartridges must be sorted into their respective denominations for counting, and the coins are handed over to the customers after confirmation of the denominations and the total value. Thus, customers have to wait for a long time while the sorting and calculating operations are carried out.